Six big nations offer package of incentives

Bush said that if Iran doesn't listen, the matter will go to the United Nations.
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Six world powers agreed Thursday on a "significant" package of incentives to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Becket said.
"I am pleased to say we have agreed [on] a set of far-reaching proposals," she said. "We believe they offer Iran the chance to reach a negotiated agreement based on cooperation."
She added that "if Iran agrees not to engage in negotiations, further steps will have to be taken."
After a meeting by France, Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia and China, Becket said "we urge Iran to take the positive path" and promised to suspend Security Council action against Tehran if it agreed to halt enrichment.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the foreign ministers from the European nations that led stalled talks with Iran last year, and also with representatives of Russia and China. Russian and Chinese support is crucial to attach the threat of United Nations sanctions or other punishment to the package of incentives.
At the White House, President Bush warned that the confrontation would end up at the U.N. Security Council if Iran continues to enrich uranium.
"If they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world 'We really don't care what your opinion is,' then the world is going to act in concert," Bush said after meeting with his Cabinet at the White House.
What Bush said
Bush said he got a "positive response" in a telephone conversation Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding, "We expect Russia to participate in the United Nations Security Council. We'll see whether or not they agree to do that."
Bush also spoke about Iran on Thursday with Chinese President Hu Jintao. He said little about that conversation, saying, "They understood our strategy." The U.S. would need cooperation by Russia and China, Security Council members, before that body could act.
On Wednesday, the United States announced it is now willing to join the European talks if Iran suspends suspect activities and returns to the table.
Iran's foreign minister welcomed the idea of direct talks, but rebuffed the U.S. condition that Tehran first must suspend uranium enrichment.
"Iran welcomes dialogue under just conditions but won't give up our rights," the state-run Iranian television quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying Thursday.
What's behind this
The shift in U.S. tactics was meant to offer the Iranians a last chance to avoid punishing sanctions. "We hope that in the coming days the Iranian government will thoroughly consider this proposal," Rice said before leaving Washington for Vienna.
Mottaki's statement issued at about the time Rice was arriving in Austria was the country's first direct reaction to the U.S. offer.
"We won't negotiate about the Iranian nation's natural nuclear rights but we are prepared, within a defined, just framework and without any discrimination, to hold dialogue about common concerns," he said.
The package outlined Wednesday by Rice would be on the table for any new talks including the United States. Previous talks among Iran, Britain, France and Germany foundered last year. Iran insists its nuclear work is peaceful and aimed at developing a new energy source.
The U.S. shift came with pressure growing on the Bush administration from European allies and others to talk directly to Iran. It also came on the eve of the six-nation meeting in Vienna that focused on finishing the package and ending months of disagreement between the United States and Russia on how to persuade Iran to stop uranium enrichment. That process can make fuel for nuclear power reactors or the fissile core of warheads.
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